


Dreary Sunday

by kokoro



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/594808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokoro/pseuds/kokoro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rainy days will never be quite the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreary Sunday

It was a drizzly and grey Sunday afternoon, and nothing seemed more inviting than the idea of lounging around Souji’s room all day. The February snow covering the ground outside was morphing into slush, and Yosuke’s boots sitting downstairs in the doorway could testify to that. Their fake suede surface always had ugly watermarks on them on days like this, where your shoes couldn’t help but get damp and dirty and it would even seep down into your socks. For that reason, Yosuke’s were draped over the space heater in the corner of the bedroom to dry and he was borrowing a pair of Dojima-san’s guest slippers in the meantime. The man was out doing overtime today, so it wasn't like they could have asked his permission, but Yosuke sure as hell hoped he wouldn’t mind.

The two were splayed out on the floor, Yosuke lying on his stomach in front of the TV playing whatever outdated RPG Souji had stashed on top of his dresser. Souji was stretched out perpendicular to him on his back, reading a book and using the arch of Yosuke’s lower back as a pillow. There wasn’t much conversation going on, but they had all the noise they needed as it was. The sound of Souji turning pages, the muffled laughter from Nanako’s quiz shows downstairs, and the little chimes and tinny background music from Yosuke’s game. During the silence of the loading screens, however, they both paused and listened to the patter of raindrops on the roof. 

Everything was over, but the sound still had some level of a power over them. Sometimes, when they let their guard down, it would inspire a knee-jerk reaction and they’d forget that the case was solved, that they didn’t have to worry if the weather forecast was really correct or not. It was too easy to slip into a past where they only had a few more days before the fog swept over Inaba and the fate of the victim in the TV was sealed, for better or worse.

It was always the small things that brought them back, like when they’d run their fingers over the thick calluses on their hands that still remained from their training, or the sound of a TV tuning into a strained station. One time Yosuke’s heart started pounding in the kitchenware department of Junes because a customer dropped a knife set on the floor, and he could have sworn the way they clattered sounded _exactly_ like his kunai. He immediately felt ridiculous and told himself to get a damn grip already.

Neither one of them ever mentioned these feelings to the other, but they might have assumed it was mutual. Being in the presence of someone who could know, who could _understand_ what they were feeling without having to be given an existential crash course was enough to make them relax for the time being. They didn’t even have to be doing anything besides lying on the same carpet to feel like everything was okay. They _were_ okay. 

Yosuke finally broke the silence. “What are you even reading?”

“ _Farewell to Man._ ”

“Sounds like a snorefest.”

“I don’t know, I find it kind of invigorating.”

“You think making _envelopes_ is invigorating, dude. Last week, you spent two hours following a cat around the flood plains. I just can’t trust you when you say something’s interesting anymore, you have weird taste.”

“It wasn’t two hours.”

“Yeah, it was, you skipped all of basketball practice for it.”

“Ohhh, right…” The appreciative way he said it made Yosuke snort while he ran through the game’s battles on autopilot. He powered through the rest of this level and then glanced down and over his shoulder at Souji.

“Thanks for letting me come over. Everyone else at home is working today, so the place was feeling pretty empty.”

“Any time.” Souji looked up from his page, tilting his head and giving Yosuke a smile. The way his bangs fell to the side on Yosuke’s shirt was kind of… artistic, in a way. Add a black and white filter, and this would have been a nice shot of amateur photography. “Thanks for being my pillow.”

“Any time,” Yosuke echoed, “I owe you more than that, partner.” He was wearing a carefree smile when he said it, but there was clearly some density behind his words. Yosuke had lost track of all the things he owed his partner for. He could make a list, but it would have at least 400 bullet points ranging from “that time he let me borrow his spare P.E. uniform” to “all the times he saved my life without a second thought”. In the end, he’d never bother, because it was easier to just put all those things under the umbrella of “he was there for me, no matter what”. Obviously, it was the least Yosuke could do to return the favor.

Souji could see the thought on Yosuke’s face, even if he was only looking at his profile; he knew that knitted brow too well. He passed his book off to one hand, raised his free one, and then ruffled Yosuke’s hair. His expression loosened up and Souji allowed his hand to linger. 

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not as soft as that cat," Yosuke said.

Souji let out a laugh, running his fingers through the other’s hair. “That’s okay.”

It was all okay.


End file.
